AT&T: Q4 U-verse gains power residential wireline sales

AT&T inched closer to the 3 million subscriber mark for U-verse TV in the fourth quarter of 2010, as the company reported rebounding broadband additions and strength in bundled services that helped AT&T achieve residential wireline revenue growth at an unlikely time.

The Q4 take rate of 246,000 customers for U-verse TV was about 10,000 customers more than the telco signed up in the third quarter, though just under the 247,000 TV subs added in Q4 2009. AT&T also reported net broadband additions of about 210,000, well above the 148,000 it reported in Q3 2010, and continuing a trend of rebounding broadband additions after DSL losses put net broadband additions in negative territory back in the second quarter of last year.

The telco also is having great success with service bundles, as the U-verse TV attach-rate for its broadband customers is now 90 percent, while the U-verse Voice (VoIP) attach-rate is 60 percent. More than 75 percent of U-verse TV subscribers have the service as part of a triple play or quad-play bundle, while AT&T monthly revenue per user on triple play bundles is more than $160, about $20 higher than it was in Q4 2009.

Overall, revenue for the U-verse services was up more than 73 percent in Q4 2010, and was a major factor in pushing the company’s residential wireline revenue for that quarter to about $5.3 billion, representing the second straight quarter of growth and a slight up-tick (less than 1 percent) from Q4 2009.

The residential wireline revenue growth comes as the company continues to lose landline voice telephony customers. Consumer retail wireline customers totaled almost 24.2 million at the end of 2010, an 11.5 percent decline from the end of 2009.